


Quietly I feel your whisper settle on me, quietly I'm carried on.

by Skyson



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Discovery, F/M, One Shot, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 18:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18922303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: "It hits her in the space of a blink, before she can even take a full breath..."





	Quietly I feel your whisper settle on me, quietly I'm carried on.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something of a different tone of voice while I work on editing a few other works. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 

It hits her in the space of a blink, before she can even take a full breath. She loves him, yes; she has for a very long time. She loves him in a way that she cannot give to anyone else, that she never has anyone else. He is her **_Watcher_** , even when he is not, and that title is the only thing she can think of when all other words fail her.

That big beaming smile of his, rare as it is, does not linger after Xander’s joking has finished. But that soft one, that small quirk of his lips that first begins in his eyes - that one is just for her. That one is always for her. His eyes squint a little as he looks at her, crow’s feet deepening in quiet, reserved joy. It’s not that their past no longer matters - it matters a great deal - but it isn’t the roadblock that she thought it was. Their past is a stepping stone, many stepping stones, the mosaic that makes up what they are. Beauty, put together, seen all at once, but created from broken and mismatched pieces.

Buffy’s revelation courses through her in milliseconds but she does not react. She simply returns his warm, gentle smile, and reaches out to lightly brush her fingers across his knuckles.

“Hello, Giles.” She greets calmly, just enough touch of friendliness so he knows that she is no longer angry. “Welcome back.”

His name feels sweet and warm on her tongue, like fresh honey from the market, and she wonders if it is heard that way. If the way her mouth forms his name gives away her secret. She cannot find the care to look at her friends, and judge their expressions for their thoughts.

“Hello, Buffy.” His voice is all soft love and sweet relief, and she realizes, with a brief moment of self-flagellation, that her name has often come from his lips in this way.

The others stand behind her on the porch anxiously, waiting, watching in silent tension as they brace for the expected drama. There will be no fireworks, this time, however. She’s older, wiser, accepting of her past and of her future, whatever that may be. She’s found her place in the world, again.

Buffy steps close, sliding her hand around the nape of Giles’ neck, drawing him down.

Maybe there would be some fireworks.

* * *

 


End file.
